ANGELES CITY — Running the fastest growing fiber broadband company in the Philippines worth billions is a feather in the cap of Converge CEO Dennis Anthony Uy, but it came after many, many years of hard work.
There is no such thing as overnight successes in business, and building the publicly-listed, multi-billion peso stock favorite Converge ICT Solutions Inc. definitely isn’t one. Rather, it was a company built on a mix of idealism, grit, and genuine public-spiritedness.
Self-made billionaire Dennis Anthony Uy shared the three factors for a successful business venture in a recent webinar entitled “Technopreneurship” hosted by his alma mater Holy Angel University (HAU) in Angeles, Pampanga.
A creative idea
There are gaps in every industry or sector. Especially in technology, which is changing rapidly, there’s always an opportunity to come up with a solution for a problem or a need. Successful start-ups, such as Grab and Airbnb discovered the need for on-demand and customizable services at their fingertips and now they’re booming.
“Everyone has a right to an idea and a good vision. Coming up with ideas and being creative is free, and you should always be curious of what people need, and what is lacking. Explore these ideas and make sure they’re viable ,” shared Mr. Uy.
A well-planned execution
Securing $225 million from a global private equity firm and listing on the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) – these milestones of Converge were the products of careful planning and strategizing. Mr. Uy is no fan of doing things on the fly, and any entrepreneur worth their salt should listen.
“Having a good idea is one thing, but making sure these can be executed is another. Ideas that are not grounded on numbers and market data will remain just ideas,” the Converge founder added.
A business should serve a purpose
At the end of the day, who will benefit from this business? This is a key factor entrepreneurs and start-ups should have in mind from the start.
“With a good vision, must come good intentions. You have to think of the impact your business will make on others, and not just yourself,” Dennis said, as he himself plans on investing on a ‘Tech City’ in his home province of Pampanga.
“Ideas, execution, and impact to the community. When you have all three, it’s not hard to get investors to buy into your business,” he concluded.
The ‘Technopreneurship” webinar is the first of two technology webinars hosted by the HAU this October in line with its initiative to cultivate business-minded technologists and engineers. Mr. Uy is part of the Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering Class of ‘92 in Holy Angel University.
